How Sam Hunt Ended Up Sampling a 67-Year-Old Honky-Tonk Classic

Sam Hunt is looking to "nod to tradition" on his new album, Southside, and one particular song proves that Hunt is staying true to his word. "Hard to Forget" samples a 67-year-old honky-tonk classic, "There Stands the Glass" by Webb Pierce.

Luke Laird, the producer of "Hard to Forget," recently opened up to Rolling Stone, where he explained his decision to use "There Stands the Glass" as the building block for Hunt's new song.

After hearing Pierce's tune on the Apple Music playlist Honky Tonk Essentials, "I was like 'Man, what if I made a beat and sample that?'" recalled Laird.

He then recorded a rough 13-second voice memo, where he hummed the melody of Pierce's chorus as he beatboxed a crude rhythm. That short memo would later go on to form the basis for Hunt's "Hard to Forget."

The song came into complete fruition when Laird and fellow songwriter Ashley Gorely were at a session with Hunt. As the session was coming to a close, Hunt asked Laird if he had any other beats to show him. That's when Laird pulled out the rough voice memo that contained the "There Stands the Glass" sample.

According to Laird, Hunt was intrigued. "He was just freaked out over it. Like, ‘Gosh, play it again!'"

They then merged the sample with a different song that Hunt had been working on with Nashville songwriter titans Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne called "Playing Harder to Forget."

From there, the production was switched up, having the "There Stands the Glass" sample's key changed, speeding up the sample and processing the vocals.

"When I was making this beat," said Laird, "part of me was like, ‘If Kanye West came across a bin of old country records, what would he do?"

From there, Hunt's "Hard to Forget" was born.

Hunt recently scored his sixth No. 1 song on Country radio with his hit "Kinfolks" and could be adding another one with "Hard to Forget." Both songs will appear on Hunt's sophomore album, Southside, which is due out on April 3.